Bowie County officials begin budget requests

NEW BOSTON, Texas—At least 16 county officials presented budget plans to the Bowie County Commissioners Court on Wednesday to help prepare the county’s Fiscal Year budget 2018-19 for late September approval.

Using the county’s current Fiscal Year budget of about $31.9 million, commissioners, along with Bowie County Auditor William Tye and County Judge James Carlow, spent the day combing through financial figures in an effort to determine budget needs before the new fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

Most county officials asked for the same amount of money for next year that they received this year.

The Bowie County Sheriff’s Office didn’t ask for much more than the $3.6 million it received this year, with the exception of a request for $20,340 for radio maintenance money along with about $12,000 for miscellaneous expenses.

Apart from the Sheriff’s Office, the District Clerk’s Office requested about the same $760,843 it received this year. The tax assessor-collector requested the same $531,551 for the coming fiscal year as she received this year. The Office of Emergency Management asked for $224,287 with an additional $1,200 for trailer maintenance.

The Precinct 1 Place 1 Justice of the Peace Office asked for an increase of slightly more than $3,000 for the coming fiscal year, bringing the total request to $183,631, while the Adult Probation Office only made a $3 increase request, bringing it to $173,891.

Other requests in keeping with this year’s budget included $164,377 for the Precinct 1 Place 2 JP office; $108,705 for the Precinct 5 JP office and $88,770 for the Precinct 4 JP office, which included a $261 increase.

Budget planners will research finances later this summer to see if any salary increases will be possible.

The county’s final budget must be approved by Sept. 30.